The performance measurements are composed of eight indicators. These indicators together represent three different criteria of research performance, which includes research productivity, research impact, and research excellence. Table 1 lists the indicators and shows the respective weightings of each indicator.
Table 1 The Criteria and Indicators, and Their Respective Weightings, Used for the NTU World University Performance-Based Ranking
| Criteria | 2024 NTU World University Performance Indicators | Weighting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research Productivity | Number of articles in the last 11 years* (2013-2023) Number of articles in the current year* (2023) |
10% 15% |
25% |
| Research Impact | Number of citations in the last 11 years* (2013-2023) Number of citations in the last 2 years* (2022-2023) Average number of citations in the last 11 years (2013-2023) |
15% 10% 10% |
35% |
| Research Excellence | h-index of the last 2 years (2022-2023) Number of Highly Cited Papers (2013-2023) Number of articles in high-impact journals in the current year (2022-2023) |
10% 15% 15% |
40% |
Research Productivity
To objectively represent a university’s current and ongoing research productivity, this ranking system employs two indicators, the number of articles published in the last 11 years (2013-2023), and the number of articles published in the current year (2023). The prior data is drawn from ESI, which covers the data for the articles indexed by SCI and SSCI from 2013 to 2023. The later one is the results of the searches that were conducted in April 2024.
Research Impact
NTU Ranking system considers both the long-term and short-term impact of particular research and seeks to provide a fairer representation of a university’s research impact regardless of its size or full-time equivalent academic staff. Thus, this ranking system measures research impact by the number of citations gained in the last 11 years, the number of citations gained in the last 2 years, and the average number of citations gained in the last 11 years. The first two indicators are calculated based on the search results gained from SCIE and SSCI of WoS, and the average number of citations is the number of citations in the last 11 years divided by the number of articles in the last 11 years.
Research Excellence
This ranking system assesses each university’s research excellence by the following indicators: the h-index of the last 2 years, the number of Highly Cited Papers from ESI, and the number of articles in high-impact journals in the current year. “h-index of the last 2 years” measures both the quantity and quality of a university’s research. It reflects the number of papers that have been cited at least as many times as the h-index value (Hisrch, 2005) in 2022-2023 SCI and SSCI data. “Number of Highly Cited Papers” utilizes data from ESI, which includes statistics of “Highly Cited Papers” from 2022 to 2023. ESI defines Highly Cited Papers, the top 1% of the most cited papers in the last 11 years. “Number of articles in high-impact journals in the current year” employs data from JCR, which supplies the impact factor of each journal in its subject field.
References
Hirsch, J. E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(46), 16569–16572.
Huang, M. H. (2008). Application of H-index for Research Evaluation at University Level. Evaluation in Higher Education, 1(2), 29-50.
Huang, M. H., & Chi, P. S. (2010). A Comparative Analysis of the Application of H-index, G-index, and A-index in Institutional-Level Research Evaluation. Journal of Library and Information Studies, 8(2), 1-10.